Most Helpful Positive Review

Aug 22, 2003

WARNING: DO NOT USE LOW FAT MAYONNAISE. I made it the first time with regular mayonnaise and it turned out to be the hit of the party! I couldn't find fresh basil so I even used dried. Then I decided to make it with low fat mayonnaise and it turned out horrible. Great recipe...

Most Helpful Critical Review

Jun 30, 2003

for all of the millions of pasta salad recipes out there, this is not one of the best. it contains a disgusting amount of mayonnaise, and tastes pretty boring and kind of gross. the best thing about it was all the pretty colors - i won't make this again.

Excellent. This is really a full 5 star recipe.... easy, pretty, and yummy. I followed the recipe, except I used white wine vinegar (since I was out of red). I'm perplexed as to why some reviewers thought there was too much mayo. I hate too much salad dressing (always order it on the side!), but this only had a light coating. I'm wondering whether those people didn't use enough pasta. It calls for 2 cups of DRY pasta, which is actually an entire box, I believe (the box I used had 16 oz dry rotelle). Anyway, it's the best pasta salad I've ever had!

I made this salad for a baby shower I recently had and received great reviews for it. I used bow-tie pasta and added in blanched broccoli florets, seedless cucumbers, red, yellow, and green peppers as well as fresh Roma tomatoes. For the dressing, I used 1 cup of mayonnaise but added in about 3/4-1 cup of prepared zesty Italian dressing, along with the suggested ingredients. I too was afraid of the large amount of mayonnaise. Regardless, everything tasted great and it got better each day it was left-over. I would make it again because it was pretty looking.

Great pasta salad - perfect for any BBQ! Pasta salads are so easy and no matter what you add to them as long as the veggies are fresh, you use a good quality dressing, and it's chilled - it'll be wonderful. So add what you like. This recipe is a great base. I used a whole bunch of cherry tomatoes that I cut in half and added some red and green pepper along with the rest of the ingredients. For the "dressing" I added a little dried Italian seasoning. I also topped it with some shredded Parmesan and Romano cheeses - delicious!

A little variation: Add red, orange and yellow bell pepper, diced; a can of drained pineapple chunks OR a cup of small seedless red grapes, halved. This adds a little sweet touch to the savory and despite how odd it sounds, is very good.
Black olives, sliced green olives with pimentos, diced sauteed or fresh zucchini or yellow squash... This is a versatile, easy and festive side dish for a large gathering.

This was a great recipe!! I cooked it last night for the first time, and my best friend's husband who normally doesn't like pasta salads loved it!! I added cubes of Mozzeralla cheese to it, and my friend suggested adding boiled eggs next time as well. I used dried basil and garlic and it was still wonderful:)

Pretty good salad...and everyone who tried this seemed to enjoy it. I'm not big on fresh basil so I could have done without it but the mayo/vinegar dressing was good. This did not have a lot of flavors in it. I used an orange bell pepper and added about 1/2 a jar of diced pimentos. I think the taste of the bell pepper dominated this dish. Hubby's not a pasta salad fan and my little ones didn't even try it. Probably won't make again unless the leftovers are to die for. Thanks for sharing.

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.